Dayton researchers said that sensor filters can reduce the number of cameras and sensors required for smartphones, cameras, and cars.

Day and night function: under the moon and under the sun. Cell phones, cars, and many other devices usually have separate cameras and sensors for day and night vision, but with the development of researchers at the University of Dayton (UD), this situation may change. Ohio, USA, they developed a A single optical device that can switch between day and night vision applications.

Day and night function: under the moon and under the sun.

This work is described in Optics Express.

UD electro-optics graduate student Remona Heenkenda designed and manufactured the filter under the guidance of UD electro-optics professor Andrew Sarangan and computer engineering professor Keigo Hirakawa.

Sarangan and Hirakawa saw valuable practical applications for reducing the number of cameras and sensors in smartphones and cars, for example, this could reduce costs and improve safety at night.

In the filter developed by Heenkenda, a novel phase change material can switch the camera between day and night operation. According to Sarangan, this type of filter can be turned on and off using tiny heat pulses. Some computer chips also use the same type of material to store data.

"At night, we hope to make the camera work better by processing the near-infrared light. During the day, near-infrared radiation can make the colors weird, so we want to keep it out of the camera," Hirakawa said.

"So we only need to filter out the near infrared during the day. Our switchable filter uses phase change to block or pass the near infrared light to the camera." He added that the optimization will be based on the filter identifying the night based on the clock or the amount of light Automatic switching.

"The car will be the sensor on the wheel. It is moving in that direction," Hirakawa added. "If you can recycle technology to do two things and save 5 or 10 cents for every 100 million parts, then you can save a total of 10 million US dollars. If you can cut the cost and redundancy of cameras or equipment, then it It might be very helpful. In automotive applications, this will apply to all cars, not just luxury cars, because the cost savings make it available to everyone."

As a PhD student working with Sarangan, Heenkenda also attended the 2021 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Photonics Conference. She said that she was grateful for the opportunity she got during UD.

“There are only a few electro-optics and photonics graduate programs in the country, and the University of Dayton is one of them, and you can use cutting-edge research facilities such as nanomanufacturing laboratories,” Heenkenda said.

“We are fortunate to work with outstanding professors who are engaged in industry research to keep abreast of the latest research trends. These collaborations provide students with many opportunities to gain valuable experience and prepare for the future.”